1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to surgical devices, and, more particularly, to orthopaedic surgical devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Joint arthroscopy is an orthopaedic procedure that is performed to evaluate a joint space and, if necessary, treat disease tissue that is found. Joint arthroscopy is performed with sharp surgical instruments, and treatment of diseased tissue in the joint space often requires removing the diseased tissue with cutting or other damaging procedures. One increasingly common joint arthroscopy procedure is hip arthroscopy, which evaluates and treats the joint between the femur and the acetabulum. The number of hip arthroscopy procedures that are performed annually have rapidly grown over the past five years.
One concern when performing a hip arthroscopy procedure is damaging healthy tissue when visualizing the joint or removing diseased tissue. Direct visualization is not typically used for the procedure, and the surgeon relies on an inserted camera to visualize the joint and guide the instruments during the procedure. As the camera can only visualize what is in its limited line of sight, there is a risk that the sharp instruments used to repair the diseased tissue can be mishandled such that they damage cartilage on the femoral head or the acetabulum.
What is needed in the art is a way to protect healthy tissue during a joint arthroscopy procedure.